Support Plus Services In Northamptonshire

As we are a Registered Charity and due to contract and grant awards, we are able to provide some free Support Plus services for particular age groups or geographical areas.

Our current free Support Plus Services are:

Youth Support Plus within Daventry, East Northamptonshire, Northampton, South Northamptonshire & Wellingborough – this service is currently funded by NHS & East Northamptonshire Council

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Adult Support Plus within East Northamptonshire District – this service is currently funded by East Northamptonshire Council

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What is Support Plus

What is Support Plus

‘Support Plus’ is a service with the means of offering young people who wish to access our service, a level of support that sits between the Information, Advice and Guidance Service and Therapeutic Counselling Service already available. ‘Support Plus’ is delivered with a Solution Focused Therapy approach and offers emotional and practical support if required.

Aim of ‘Support Plus’ is to provide 1-2-1 support for those young people and adults who:

Are looking to access counselling

Are on the waiting list for counselling

Need to talk to someone or are in a crisis situation

The aim of ‘Support Plus’ is led and focused upon the needs of the client and provides somewhere for a person to be able to talk confidentially about their concerns and worries with a 1-2-1 Support Plus Practitioner who has counselling & listening skills experience. Experience has shown us that sometimes a person simply needs a space to be able to offload and be listened to, particularly in a time of crisis. Not all people need on-going therapeutic counselling. The Support Plus Practitioner can also provide information regarding the other services offered by Service Six and the Counselling Service and also give information or signpost to other agencies or organisations if appropriate.

‘Support Plus’ can also be offered as a range of bespoke 4-6 weeks group work programme if clients present similar issues and it is deemed as beneficial to all to participate in a group setting.

Topics which can be addressed through our Support Plus Group Work programme include:

anger management & challenging behaviours

bullying,

wellbeing

anxiety

confidence and self-esteem amongst many others

The groups will be tailored around the presenting needs of the clients suitable to engage within a group work setting, identified through our robust triage system. Our Practitioner will work with the young people on their identified difficulties, as well as encouraging peer on peer support.

A follow up session will take place 4-6 weeks after group completion to re-evaluate the outcomes achieved during the programme and if any further support is required.

Support Plus should not be offered to any young people who have experienced sexual abuse.

How does Support Plus work

How does Support Plus work?

1-2-1 Support Plus sessions are initially offered on a up to 4 to 6 session basis and will be a booked appointment of between 30-50 minutes (depending on the individual, age and what agreed between Support Plus Practitioner and client). This gives a client the opportunity to meet someone from Service Six and to have an initial session to talk to someone about what is troubling or worrying them and to explore solutions and coping strategies.

We also recognise that there are some young people and adults who, for whatever reason, either cannot commit to ongoing counselling or, don’t wish to engage in ongoing counselling. However, a proportion of these people do value the opportunity to be able to access an ‘in between’ service where they can choose when they talk to someone, for example at times of crisis in their lives. In these circumstances ‘Support Plus’ can be offered on a ‘as needed’ basis, whereby clients can contact us to request support sessions as and when they feel they need to.

Our Team

Our Team

Operations Manager

Support Plus Practitioner

Counselling Students who have undertaken a minimum of a Level 2 Counselling Certificate

Counselling Students undertaking a placement as a requirement for their Counselling Diploma

Referral Portal

Clinical Supervisors

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The Support Plus Practitioners and Counselling Students are recruited through a comprehensive application procedure which includes the completion of an application form, a video recorded skills assessment and an interview. For students, references are requested from applicants’ course tutors to ascertain their suitability and readiness to undertake this role. It is a requirement that all applicants are assessed as having a level of counselling skills and solution focused therapy knowledge whereby they are considered competent to undertake 1-2-1 counselling support work for the ‘Support Plus’ service. Support Plus Practitioners and Counselling Students receive regular practice/clinical supervision and support via management supervision.

Confidentiality

Confidentiality

Counselling offers a safe space to talk about issues that are troubling you. As a general rule the counsellor will not share what is said in counselling sessions with anyone else. However there are certain circumstances when confidentiality may need to be broken, this includes any serious crime, threatened act of terrorism or drug trafficking. Confidentiality may also be broken if the counsellor is concerned that you might harm yourself (including suicidal intent) or someone else or, if you are at risk of being harmed by someone else. This does not happen often and the counsellor will make every effort to talk things through with you. Counsellors keep notes on each client. These are brief, respectful and stored in compliance with the Data Protection Act. Please ask your counsellor about confidentiality if you have any questions.

Process & Access

Process & Access

How to get Support Plus

Service Six offer its Support Plus service in varied locations across Northamptonshire. This can include a client’s doctor surgery, school or other community facilities if this is more appropriate for the client.

Support Plus can be accessed in several ways:

Professionals referrals – referrals need to be submitted to the Referral Management Centre (RMC) which is the single point of access for professionals to make referrals into children and young people’s specialist community health services, including counselling.

A Support Plus assessment is a chance for you to find out about ‘what is Support Plus?’ and how it may be of benefit to you. We can talk about the issues which are troubling you which will help us offer you the most appropriate support which could be Support Plus, Counselling or any other service we provide.

The assessment usually takes around 45 minutes and is generally undertaken on a 1-2-1 basis. However, if in this initially assessment you would prefer someone to come in with you, this can be arranged though this practice is not appropriate during formal Support Plus sessions.

Once we have your details we will contact you to arrange an assessment at the place and time best suited to you. We can offer many venues across the county of Northamptonshire including a young person’s school.

If you are under the age of 13 we will require parental consent and a form will need to be completed by your parent/carer before we can arrange an assessment.

What happens next?

Once you have completed your initial assessment your Support Plus sessions will be arranged with your allocated Support Plus Practitioner.

Dealing with a crisis?

Our Support Plus service is not crisis support. If you are experiencing a crisis situation we can offer support service contact details who can best deal with your crisis.

If you feel you are or that you are aware of someone else that is of immediate risk you are able to contact the emergency services on 999 or go directly to your nearest Accident and Emergency department in your local hospital.

Alternatively you can contact:

Samaritans - 08457 909090

Northampton Branch of Samaritans - 0845 799090

Kettering Branch of Samaritans - 01536 416999

Evaluation

Evaluation

As we are committed to monitoring and assessing the quality of our work, from time to time, clients may be asked to contribute to this process by completing a confidential evaluation questionnaire.